Page 149 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Prague

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down in 1885 to make way
for the present building. This
was originally known as the
New German Theatre, built
to rival the Czechs’ National
Theatre (see pp156–7). A Neo-
Classical frieze decorates the
pediment above the columned
loggia at the front of the theatre.
The figures include Dionysus
and Thalia, the muse of comedy.
The interior is stuccoed, and
original paintings in the audito-
rium and on the curtain have
been preserved. In 1945, the
theatre became the city’s
main opera house.
Façade of the State Opera, formerly the New German Theatre
5 Hotel Europa A Pantheon also contains 8 Mucha Museum
Hotel Evropa busts and statues of Czech Muchovo Muzeum
scholars, writers and artists.
Václavské náměstí 25. Map 4 D5. Panská 7. Map 4 D4. Tel 224 216 415.
X Můstek. v 3, 9, 14, 24. The building is undergoing X Můstek, Náměstí Republiky.
extensive restoration, which v 3, 9, 14, 24, 26. Open 10am–6pm
Currently in the midst of a is expected to be complete in daily. 8 - = ∑ mucha.cz
major renovation project, the 2018. Until then, temporary
Hotel Europa is a wonderfully exhibitions are housed in the The 18th-century Kaunicky
preserved reminder of the golden so-called New Building nearby. Palace is home to the first
age of hotels. It was built in highly museum dedicated to this
decorated Art Nouveau style Czech master of Art Nouveau.
between 1903 and 1906. Not only 7 State Opera A selection of more than 100
has its splendid façade crowned Státní Opera exhibits include paintings
with gilded nymphs survived, Wilsonova 4/Legerova 75. Map 4 E5. and drawings, sculptures,
but many of the interiors on the Tel 224 901 866/448. X Muzeum. photographs and personal
ground floor have remained v 3, 9, 14, 24. Open for performances memorabilia. The central
virtually intact, including all the only. See Entertainment p218 & p220. courtyard becomes a terrace
original bars, large mirrors, ∑ narodni-divadlo.cz for the café in the summer,
panelling and light fittings. and there is a museum shop
The first theatre built here, the offering exclusive gifts with
New Town Theatre, was pulled Mucha motifs.
6 National Museum
Národní Muzeum
Václavské náměstí 68. Map 6 E1.
Tel 224 497 111. X Muzeum.
v 11, 13. Closed until 2018; visit
building at Vinohradská 1 from 10am–
6pm Tue–Sun until then. ∑ nm.cz
The vast Neo-Renaissance
building at the upper end
of Wenceslas Square houses
the National Museum.
Designed by Josef Schulz as
a triumphal affirmation of
the Czech national revival, it
was completed in 1890. The
entrance is reached by a ramp
decorated with allegorical
statues. Seated by the door are
History and Natural History.
The collections are mainly
devoted to mineralogy,
archaeology, anthropology,
numismatics and natural history. Prints and other souvenirs for sale at the Mucha Museum shop

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